By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
The Lopez Lady Lobos came out flat, and it cost them.
The Harlingen South Lady Hawks used two big runs during the first and third quarters to surge to a 68-30 victory over Lopez in District 32-6A action Tuesday at Lopez.
“We just weren’t ready to play today,” Lopez coach Stephen Davis said. “That falls on me and our coaching staff. It wasn’t the girls’ fault. It’s our fault that we didn’t prepare them enough for this basketball game.”
The Lady Hawks scored the first nine points of the game before the Lady Lobos got a bucket from Imelda Garcia to end the scoreless streak. South then went on another 9-0 run and took a 20-7 lead after the first quarter.
Lopez picked it up offensively in the second quarter, matching the Lady Hawks bucket for bucket, but trailed 28-15 at the half.
After the break, Southpicked up the intensity and its aggressive approach on defense, producing 31 points in the third quarter, including a 14-0 run to pull away. The Lady Lobos continued to struggle offensively and scored just five points in the third.
“We wanted to attack from the beginning and keep that up attitude the entire game,” Harlingen South coach Kelly Garrett said. “We didn’t want to look past Lopez. (During) our first and third quarters, we came out strong.”
Despite the advantage, Garrett was upset the team was 9 of 36 in the paint during the first half (25 percent). The Lady Hawks responded after the break to score more points in the third quarter (31) than they had during the first half (28). But she knows her team must continue to improve during district.
“We need to a better job of executing,” she said. “We’re not doing a bad job,we just need to do better.”
South was led by Breanna Gonzalez, who had 11 points, four rebounds and two steals. Leeanne Ledezma who finished with nine points, two rebounds and three steals.
Rneyda Bouls and Mikaela Flores each scored seven points and combined for seven rebounds and nine steals, and Emily Susen added six points, four rebounds and three steals for the Lady Hawks, who are 1-1 in District 32-6A.
While the Lady Hawks rested the majority of their starters during the final quarter, the Lobos kept pace, but the damage was already done.
Yadia Mejia had 10 points, six rebounds and three steals to lead the Lady Lobos. Garcia finished with nine points, two rebounds, two steals, and three assists.
Nayeli Perez had four points, and Paloma Trevino added seven rebounds and five blocks for Lopez, which dropped to 0-2 in district play.
Davisdidn’t make excuses for his team, only vowing that it will be ready for the next game.
“They played a better basketball game than us (today), but we should have been better prepared mentally,” he said. “We’re going to work through it and be a better basketball team on Friday.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.